The self-adjusting pliers referred to are those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,908 held by the applicant.
With manual pliers, the user has to move the jaws of the pliers into position by hand to find the most suitable grip.
With self-adjusting pliers, the user assumes that the pliers themselves will find the most suitable clamping position. It therefore causes great inconvenience if the user has to check to see whether the pliers are holding the workpiece properly. Take the case of a pipe, for instance, where the position selected by the pliers is not appropriate and the user has to re-adjust them for himself by trial and error or guesswork.
The applicant has detected the problem and his diagnosis is that it lies in the crimping pawl, which takes up the wrong crimping position. The applicant has observed that the length of the path of the pawl is excessive from the point when the jaws of the pliers touch the workpiece until the teeth crimp together and the workpiece is finally gripped or held in place. This is what causes the problems mentioned above concerning the process of holding, gripping and clamping the workpiece.
The applicant has resolved the problem with an additional spring which helps the crimping pawl to turn quickly from the aforementioned moment of contact between the jaws of the pliers and the workpiece. As a result, the length of the path of the pawl is reduced.
So as to have a better understanding of the object of this invention, plans are provided showing the best way to use the tool, susceptible to accessory changes that do not involve any fundamental modifications.